FrightFest 2015 - Day Two

POD

Rarely do I say that a film feels longer than its actual runtime and it be said in a positive manner; but I do feel that POD does feel like the exception to the rule here, at only 76 mins in length the film is filled with such great suspense and tension and keeps the audience  guessing as to the direction of the script where the balance of the the psychological and supernatural elements are played out very finely tuned that it didn't matter which pathway the film took at its final turning point as the audience would be onboard with either direction. The performance by Brian Morvant as the sucluded and unhinged Martin as his siblings Lyla and Ed travel out to the family cabin to attempt a family intervention following a distressed voicemail message; the interplay between the actors has real chemistry and there's a sense that POD is supernatural mystery in the vein of those 2 parter X-Files of yesteryear. The introduction of genre workhorse Larry Fessenden might not sit well with everyone, but it worked for me. What is a POD? Is there anything behind that locked door? And what is hidden in the Basement? Genuine scares ensue and a mystery that keeps you on your toes and compelling. 

7/10

The Rotten Link

Enter the rural world of a small Argentinian community where we are introduced into this inclusive community through a stocky and  quite clearly a mentality challenged oaf by the name of Raulo the local lumberjack as he delivers recently chopped fire wood to the nearby houses of the community on foot. Soon it becomes apparent that this small community is on the rather odd side of humanity; everyone has the purpose and its suggested that if you become 'used up' then you will longer pass in the world of the living. A slow burn where the drama takes on a rather black and dark sense of humour that gives us a great set of characters that really pulls us into the world of the bizzare that explores the mentality of a small closed off community much in the vein and pacing of Bedevilled but with the sense of humour that we find in Calvaire and this blend really makes for a rather interesting film where the characters really keep us compelled, and while the pacing at times can seem to get rather bogged down a little in places, it's ultimately paid off well with a gory and blood soaked final act that will please the most hardened horror fan, it's certainly not a film for everyone given the pacing and the fact that it's much more a condensed drama/thriller on a whole, but a film of the incestual nature with whorehouses where those of all ages take great pleasure in, at times in joint experiences; The Rotten Link is bizzare and wonderful.

7/10

Worry Dolls

I can't imagine why or even fathom how I came to the expectation for this film to be one of the highlights of the festival, obviously I hadn't seen any of the trailers leading up to this years FrightFest or surely I would have be able to pick this film out as the stinker that it well and truly is. The film kicks off with a kidnapped teenage girl that escapes from the grips of a clearly deranged serial killer, only for an immense mount of gore to be spilled by a our mad man with a 3 foot long drill as a more extreme Leatherface weilding chainsaw homage. The fact that the film does tend to linger on the gore for far too long to turn the shocking violence into something quite comical sets the film up on very shaky ground - and from then on we have just a series of stupid people making stupid and inplausable actions that really does beg the question - What were the writers thinking? There's a voodoo angle that plays out in rather predictable fashion to coincide with the actions of rather dumb police officers; Worry Dolls is a strange beast as it's unclear as to want to make of the intention behind the script; it certainly doesn't work as a horror film and even less so as a crime thriller; the entire cast feels mis-cast here and deliver nothing more than lucklustre performances across the board. Worry Dolls might not be as offensively bad and mis-guided as say a former FrightFest horror show like Dark Touch, but its certainly a damp squib with a laughably pointless stinger post credits scene.

3/10

III

A rather unique and special film for this years FrightFest; not entirely a genre film that one would expect to see at the festival and quite clear why this film ended up in the discovery screen section of this years line up; made out to be an exploration of fear with a sense of Tarkoviskian fairy tale with rich beautiful photography, the film itself is a rather striking Arthouse film that explores the world of a small european town that is struck down by a mysterious disease that takes the life of the mother of two sisters (Ayia and Mirra) - soon after the death of their mother, Mirra the younger sister falls ill herself and Ayia seeks the advice of the local parish priest who has been a close family friend from a very young age; the priest reveals a path into the subconcious world where Ayia is forced to confront their deepest fears in this vibrant dreamlike fantasy world, the film becomes a bizzare mix of Inception meets Pan's Labyrinth with that eastern european essence of a Tarkovsky - and while what follows becomes all rather complex and theoretically spellbinding, I couldn't say that the film was convouluted in any way; easy to follow yet intelligent, those expecting a film with monsters and creature abound that feature in the trailer might be disappointed, but as a dreamlike experience with a lasting effect that is best left to ingest over a good nights sleep - III has a lot to offer and though it might over stretch itself in the finale here, at least it's reaching for hefty heights even if it doesn't quite have the execution to be considered unconditionially successful.

7/10

JeruZalem

Oh found footage how I fail to find the enthuasism to really commit to any indepth writing/review or basic sharing thoughts on a genre where the example at hand is rather lacklustre and lacking in originality or something that might resemble something vaguely different than the vanilla that we are offered with JeruZalem - with a title and poster like this, it's easy to on the surface see this as a direct-to-dvd rip-off of World War Z; and in all honesty if you took World War Z and slapped the found footage style with the use of the Google Glass technology to showcase the horror and carbon copied the key stand out moments from REC and Cloverfield then you have JeruZalem in a nutshell basically. Now I'll have to admit that my opinion and thoughts of this film are kind of swayed into the negative given my experience of battling with motion sickness and the nausea that plaqued me from start to finish, the film has its moments of hitting the right beats to create some really great atmosphere, but most of the key scenes just felt lifted from the likes of REC and Cloverfield and just not as well executed as either of those films, JeruZalem is certainly not the worst example of the found footage genre, the characters and the setting for the film are both fine and like I said it does have itself moments, but it felt unnecessarily bloated and lacked any great impact that would ever lead me back for a repeat viewing; maybe for zombie/found footage/post apocalyptic fanboys only.

5/10

Bloodsucking Bastards

A horror comedy with vampires - boring, yawn, done to death; you might say, but Bloodsucking Bastards is anything but boring and dull, its a fun filled ride of death, blood and a troubled relationship, if you take Shaun of the Dead and swapped the zombies for vampires and the streets of London for a soulless office space of a lifesucking company then you get a pretty good idea of what to expect here. Our lead character Evan, who has just found himself dumped by his beautiful girlfriend and co-worker Amanda, is an overworked employee that instead of recieving the much expected promotion he believes he deserves, ends up effectively being demoted and his new boss is a arch rival from high school coming back to haunt him and turns out to also be a vampire and soon begins to turn the entire office into real Bloodsucking Bastards that effectively were anyways. Madness ensues and Evan with his best mate Tim (the office slacker) team up to kill the horde of office vamps. With great writing and a great cast where everyone gets the moment in the limelight and no-one failing to deliver the goods, its an ensemble comedy horror that doesn't suffer from any overshadowing of some of the lesser characters, yes everyone will walk away talking about how fucking funny and hilarious Tim is, but you'll be laughing out loud the entire time and won't forget the highlights feature the supporting cast here - Bloodsucking Bastards feels fresh and has a great sense of humour and really hope that this film acts as a platform for much of the talent to go onto great things in the future. Bam Snap!

8/10

FrightFest 2015: Day One

Cherry Tree

How not to kick off the FrightFest weekend, it's a decision that one can't quite can't fathom how or why Cherry Tree was the opening film for this years festival, it seems to be the opinion of everyone at the festival that this was a stinker of a horror film. From the director of Wakewood I should have seen this coming; with yet another witchcraft horror where a teenage girl makes a pact with a local witch of the Cherry Tree society of witches to save her father from his imminent death in return give her a child that will be sacrificed. Despite the film having many elements from the gory blood soaked fantastical depiction of witchcraft and a stylistic approach that gives us moments of visual fairs, but the film is so crudely executed and progresses both narratively and with the character developments that makes giant leaps forward that make it incredibly hard to connect and find the narrative either believably or engaging - it literally seems that the new hockey coach reveals herself as a witch to our young protagonist and the next scene the young girl is onboard and unquestionable follows and commits to this horrible pact. In a world where in the realms of comics with great stories and characters in recent publications of Coffin Hill and Scott Synder's Wytches - surely there's potential for the film world to create something on that level of quality in the visual media of cinema, but Cherry Tree reminded much of Dario Argneto's Mother of Tears - the blood and violence is there but the rest is an utter mess.

3/10

Turbo Kid

Heading into Turbo Kid there were rather mixed expectations; didn't know whether this was a film that was going to be so bad it's good or a genre film made with the best intentions of recreating that post apocalyptic vision of the future that we had in the 80's with the likes of Mad Max/Road Warrior; fortunately this turned out to be the latter. In a year where Fury Road is getting all the critics attention it's actually Turbo Kid that is the better Mad Max film, the low budget action post apocalypse action hell ride that is Turbo Kid is not only a hell of a good ride that delivers the action, gore and futuristic vision of the future in a fake 80s movie fashion, at its very core is a wonderful heart felt story that is very charming, with one of the best performances of the year by Laurence Laboeuf as Apple, her loveable wacky and fully committed physical and emotional performance really does elevate the film into a realm of greatness. There's a great soundtrack to boot and a level of restraint shown by the director to ensure that film doesn't go too OTT and become mindless action orientated fluff that is forgotten in a breeze, no Turbo Kid is a film that you will want to revisit on numerous occasions, yes it's an acquired taste in terms of style and approach to filmmaking, but if you can get on board and forgive the film for a rather awkwardly paced beginning, you'll be rewarded with one of the most intelligent and entertaining post apocalyptic films in recent years. The references and homages are in the DNA of the film and not like so many films shoved in your face, a personal highlight was a certain Rat-Monkey from Braindead.

8/10

Stung

Giant killer mutated Wasps out on a killing spree that is localised to a garden party full of the older generation in a small town. What could have been great fun turned out to be a bit of a mess here, the film seems to lack a sense of cohesion in the direction of this creature feature and considering that they had Lance Henrikson on board for the project playing the town mayor, you'd hope that the film could at least deliver on the fun factor if not on the scares. Early on the build up to the attack of the killer wasps is actually very well crafted and with Clifton Collins Jr channeling his inner drug and alcohol induced Edward Furlong, the film has some pretty well crafted characters to drive the film forward, but too soon is the film thrust into a more closet and claustrophobic feel with a much smaller cast, the film loses its balance between the comedy and the horror. The effects and transformations feel and look uninspired, it's almost as if this film was just made for tax purposes at a certain point, to be fair it's not as if the film is a disaster or even a bad B-Movie but it's a rather bland straight to dvd title that does have some merit and highlights but they just aren't delivered upon enough to save the film from mediocrity; Stung lacks the venom to leave an impact on its audience instead it's more like an annoying buzzing bee that's volume is far to loud for its size.

4/10

FrightFest 2015: Special Pre-Festival Screening

Plan 9 from Outer Space w/ Live Re-Score by DJ Cheeba

What a fantastic way to warm up for the main FrightFest event; admittedly I have never before this screening seen the Ed Wood 'classic' bad movie Plan 9, taking the film by itself I didn't really get the appeal that the films following fan base seem to adore with this shitty sci-if b-movie, there are some really great highlights especially the comedy gravedigging duo and the police officers and their incompetence and laugh out loud dialogue and delivery, but on a whole the film itself has large portions of lulls and bland bad storytelling. Saying that though as a complete event the wonderful live performance from DJ Cheeba from the use of soundscopes to emphasise the Science Fiction and sound design for the Flying Saucers to the sampling of certain tracks with my personal highlight being the use of Ready or Not by The Refugees and a reoccurring theme tune that delivers such great kinetic energy into a rather lifeless script. In a time where the sampling and re-editing of films seems to be the most popular way of creating something new with pre-existing material, this felt like a breath of fresh air that proves you don't have to mess with the video of a film to create an entirely new product that provides us with such wonderful entertainment, it's such a shame that the turnout for this event was so low, that might see that such events might not be repeated for future FrightFest events.

 8/10

Cursed Film Blog Update 11/09/15

It might seem that the regular series of blog posts on my Netflix activity "A Week in Netflix" has been on a bit of a hiatus or even seizing to exist, but this is not the case for the long term future, I had planned to get a post out coming off the back of the latest post to confirm the absence of the ongoing series of reviews from Netflix, but scheduling and timescales are a tricky thing and by the time I came to realising the length of the delay, it felt pretty pointless to write up something when I didn't have a time in mind for when my blogging activities were due to commence again.

Well as you'll probably be aware of the tone of this opening blog post, yes I can confirm that 'A Week in Netflix' will be continuing on from this coming week; not much has happened in this extended break, just a case of watching some more Person of Interest and little else, but one of the main causes for the absence was for my trip to London to attend Film4's FrightFest, for yet another weekend of horror goodness; my summary of thoughts and top picks for the weekend have already been uploaded and recorded on my Letterboxd account, but I think that I'll try to expand and go into a little bit more depth here on the Cursed Film Blog; these thoughts/reviews will be posted here over the next week or so, starting pretty soon so look out for those also.

Anyways this was just a quick update to let everyone know that the blog is back online and a reminder to myself not to neglect my blog writing activities, as some of you might be aware, taking a break can soon turn into years of neglect and abandonment. 

A Week in Netflix: w/c 10/08/15

FILM

Monsters Inc.

Well I'm only 14 years late to this Pixar party; why did I not see this film upon its initial release? That I'm afraid I really can't answer, nor can I explain why it has taken me so bloody long to catch up with Monsters Inc. - I'm a big fan of animation and Pixar in particular, so the fact that I'm only just uncovering the joy that is Monsters Inc. right now on Netflix is really quite shameful. But coming in fresh after so many years some things do stand out a little more here; first being the advancement of the quality of animation work that Pixar are now producing, because at times Monsters Inc. does feel a little bit dated in the animation department, but that never really detracts from the overall experience on what for the most part is a fabulous tale of the hidden world of closet monsters; and the other thing that I noticed here was the script and the narrative development and scope of this Pixar film does seem more traditional and rather simplistic in its use of plot points and set ups, but again this in no way counts against the film, in fact I was quite a pleasant change up from the vast majority of animated films that I've watched in recent years and after recently seeing Pixar's latest Inside Out, this felt rather fresh to me and something completely different that really shows why I do appreciate the works of Pixar so much. This animation is a joy to watch from start to finish with so so many highlight comedy moments, with some truly magical interplay between the Mike, Sully and Boo. If for some reason you're like me and you have somehow managed to let Monsters Inc. slip you by for all this time, stop what you are doing right now and rectify this disastrous situation, your soul depends on it. Highly recommended.

(go to my Letterboxd page to see where Monsters Inc. ranks in my list of favourite Pixar movies.)

8/10

Pain & Gain

I always said to myself after being brutally punished at the cinema by the garbage dump that was the third Transformers movie, that I would add Michael Bay to my Blacklist of directors for which I won't even give their work the time of day anymore; but Netflix got me suckered back in to the chaotic world that is Bayism, but not alone, oh no that would just be too simple, no what we have here is my love for wrestling and the work of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - yes that's right I do smell what the Rock is cooking and I'm always eager to give the Peoples Champ a chance in the cinematic universe. And to my shock Pain & Gain isn't quite the disaster that I was expecting; the idea of criminal bodybuilders; pumping iron and kidnapping the rich seems like a whole lot of fun, and to the films credit the 3 lead 

actors of The Rock, Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Mackie, really do give it their all on the screen, and supply some truly great pieces of chemistry onscreen as well as deliver the over the top physical and back it up with the timing of their lines to get the most out of the situation and comedy highlights. But unfortunately Michael Bay ruins this all with some extremely shoddy camera work with chaotic cinematography and a direction in which the film feels cheapened by the constant voice over and jarring pacing issues that riddle the film that almost derails the whole experience, but the performances were enough to keep me on board, there's a good film in here somewhere, but Michael Bay refuses to let it out, and ultimately the film feels much like the Rock looks "Over Pumped and Bloated" - this could have been so much more fun had this been a film that Bay decided to parody himself or given to a director that could have left well enough alone all the garbage that this film gets bogged down in and let the talent on screen propel Pain & Gain into the action comedy hit it deserves to be.

4/10

TV

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 3 (Episodes 1-3)

Dumpster Babies, Football tryouts - that just a little bit reminds you much of that Thanksgiving episode of Friends; and Danny DeVito - yes this bunch of morons and their twisted moral compasses might be some of the hardest characters to connect with and begin to like, but the comedy timing and the writing of the show is very well executed that - It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia does manage to do just that, I've been laughing at all the craziness that these first few episodes of season 3 has to offer and am keen to see what further madness this Irish group of assholes gets up to next. But as like a said last week, toning down the pace at which this is consumed to avoid overexposure and killing the effectiveness of the comedy.

Person of Interest Season 1 (Episodes 1-9)

A new show for me to jump on board with this week and it stars Michael Emerson (Ben from Lost) and Jim Caviezel - who I always found to be an actor that I could swear has been in far more Film/Tv than IMDB tells me; the show is kind of a mix up between a police procedural and 24; taken on the format of a crime a week with a large story that slowly unravels as the episodes pass on by; and after 9 episodes, I'm really starting to get pulled into the story here and find myself really liking the main 2 characters of the show and its always good to see Michael Emerson do something outside of Lost. Preventing crime in the manner that one would find very close to that of Minority Report, starting off with nothing more than a social security number; the direction of the narrative and the solving/preventing of murders is really compelling. My one worry is looking at the length of each season; 20 plus episodes does seem like an awful long season and hard to see that the current format of each episode will be strong enough to hold up over such a long period of time in order to maintain my initial interest levels, but we will have to wait and see if the show is able to adapt and develop into a show that is compelling enough to justify this length and have an over arching story that is entertaining and thrilling as the prospect of the work of Caviezel and Emerson. At this moment in time I would say that Person of Interest is certainly a show that is worth jumping into on Netflix and at least giving the first season a complete run through to see if this might be the crime thriller show for you.

A Week in Netflix: w/c 03/08/15

TV

Orange is the New Black Season 3 (Episodes 7-13) Complete

Piper, Piper, Piper; yes again I feel the need to go on about her, but she really is becoming a heavy hinderance on the show, the fact that the writers feel the need to push her onto us more and more with increasing detachment of her original character and pushing her further into the realm of unbelievability, and it doesn't stop there because this all bleeds into off branching sub-plots with other characters that are completely underdeveloped and lack any sense of gravitas and for the most part aren't particularly enjoyable to watch. First we have a new character Stella; who on the outside initially comes across as a character with such great potential but is wasted in this season, then we have the likes of Flaca who gets a sub-plot story that goes nowhere and is such throw away trash, but worst of all is the return of Alex Vause and her ongoing story that has a forced shock moment in the season finale that is just poor writing and something that I really couldn't give two shits about - leaving the finale with a ending that doesn't exactly entice you or keep you chomping at the bit for the next season. Season 3 however is not without it's merits; we do get some quite excellent character development between Boo and Pensatucky and then there is Taystee and her gang who have 2 key moments in the show that are some of the genuine highlights that this season has too offer. If you've been on board to this date, I can't say to you to jump ship just yet, but do be warned that Piper has the potential to be the iceberg that sinks the show. I'm looking forward to the next season all being said despite I'm negativities and concerns with the direction that the show continues to take, but I will head into season 4 with some reservations.

6/10

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 2 (Episodes 4-10) Complete

Well last week I said that Danny DeVito took the show to the next level and now that I've completed season 2 I can say that statement was legit and has been backed up by the increased quality of comedy that the show has to offer; I think now that I've got 2 full seasons in I can pretty much judge what are my highlights and favourite characters of the show and taking DeVito out of the equation - I do tend to find everything that is played out by or surrounding Charlie to be the pick of the moments that the show has to offer, there is just something about the character that is easier to attach yourself to and to care a bit more about his character than the others; for me anyways. And as good and as funny as this season has been, I do feel that I need to slow down the pace at which I am consuming the show; yes the show is very light and each episode really does breezes on by, but I feel that if you rush too fast through the show then there might be smaller moments of comedy and in the background that you might well miss out on. Much like a show like Friends; I think that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has the potential for re-watchability in no particular order once you've sat through the show from start to finish - it's not like there's much of an ongoing storyline with any real weight and meaning; but instead each show really works well to create new situations for the gang to explore their areas of expertise to create laughter for the audience and within the show find new ways to push the boundaries of their close relationships. A personal highlight episode for me this season was Charlie Goes America All Over Everybody's Ass; this episode in itself was proper the key moment where I realised Charlie was the main character for me of the show and as a collective one of the funniest episodes to date; if you were even just a little bit amused by season 1 then I really urge you to give this season a shot, as Danny DeVito demands it!

8/10

A Week in Netflix: w/c 27/07/15

TV

Orange is the New Black Season 2 (Episodes 7-13) Complete

Couldn't help but race through the second half of season 2 this week; damn this show is like crack - even though most of the episodes push the hour run time, not one episode feels like it drags in this season and while the season finale and all its key points and wrap up story lines are utterly predictable you can't help but be sucked in and cheer as your favourite assholes get their ticket punched and also how the star performances get their chance to shine for an extended runtime. Christ even Piper who during the first half of the season seemed to be completely wasted given the season 1 finale; gets a nice wrap up to her seemingly ever going on inner turmoil of relationships both inside and outside of the prison walls of Litchfield. This half of the season has really stepped up the game and produced some greater written character developments and with numerous battles going on between some key players here, it's hard not to get hooked by the show - from Vee vs. Red to Piper, Polly and Pie Fucker from American Pie; even more so in this time around in Litchfield; Orange is the New Black seems to be more about the ensemble cast of the show whilst still having Piper being the driving force of the narrative but not over stepping the boundaries of hogging all of the spotlight. As a whole the show I feel has improved as it's developed though given the ending to this seasons finale it's hard to see where the show can really go next with the exception of Joe Caputo - I'm not sure in what direction the show can go to continue it's growth and not slip back into old habits, that being said season 2 is a win and certainly a recommendation to everyone that was already invested by season 1 of the show.

8/10

Orange is the New Black Season 3 (Episodes 1-6)

Oh my lord will the some please kill off Piper! Seriously though, Piper had a nice wrap up at the end of season 2 and I'm not necessarily saying that her character should be 'killed' on the show, but they really could have found a way to write here out to be more of a bit part player in the show; her character has traveled a path that came to a reasonable end and honestly she really doesn't have much more to offer, yet in the first half of this season we've lost some of the more interesting characters that actually had so much more to offer; now they might come back at a later date, but at this moment in time their absence combined with the continuation to force more Piper bullshit down our throats has left a sour taste in my mouth - Its not to the point yet were I don't enjoy watching the show, but whenever Piper is onscreen I find myself zoning out as it's just this repetitive garbage that is poorly written and really bogs down the show both in terms of pacing and progression of narrative. That's really all I want to say for now, the introduction of newer characters and an narrative avenue is still in the early stages for this season and I can't honestly say that this is either looking good or bad for the future of the shows direction but I will say this, temper your expectations for this third season as Piper is really dragging this ship down as much as one single character can possibly do.

Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 1 Complete

This show has been on my Netflix to watch list ever since signing up to the online streaming service, but I've always been put off by the fact that their are 10 whole seasons to catch up with and therefore  have found myself prioritising other shows ahead of this comedy, but when a close friend of mine, who not only doesn't normally have the patience for TV shows in general let alone a American Sitcoms; comes out and strongly recommends it I felt the need to quickly make this show the next thing to watch and I feel like I've been breezing through the show super quickly and having a great time with some great laugh out loud memorable moments. It's weird how this show just seems to drop you in the middle of it's core group of characters and just expects you to already have some investment and connection with these characters, you'd imagine that it's angle a network would take if they were adapting an SNL sketch for a larger format on television; and it really does work here, the style is very raw and I found myself quickly beginning to understand the inner relations between the four central characters, and though there are times where I feel that the actors do come out of character, which I assume is due to the fact that these guys all know each other very well before the show began and there's a sense of familiarity and that comfort zone can at times cause lapses in concentration, but the comedy is witty and fast paced that before I knew it season 1 was already over - probably not the greatest comedy that I've ever seen, but it felt fresh to me and I already really dig all of the characters of the show. If you like sitcoms and comedy in general then this is a strong recommendation to give the show a chance to see if it strikes the right chords for you.

7/10

Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 2 (Episodes 1-3)

Only 3 episodes in, but Danny DeVito has made his entrance and already the laughs per minute have increased two fold - after only 3 episodes of this season I don't feel there's really anymore that needs to be said other than - if like me you found season 1 of the show to be very funny then certainly pick up season 2 because it's started off very strong and DeVito is absolutely hilarious.